And they lived dairy ever after...

The Story of Kiambaa Rural Dairy Cooperative

The Fin4Ag International Conference held in Nairobi from 14 – 18 July 2014 set in motion a number of evolutionary processes, especially among young people whose impact on agriculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific is going to be revolutionary. A recent news article by the main organisers of the conference, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) supports this.

As a young African agriculture enthusiast, one of my encounters with destiny at the Fin4Ag conference was during the field trips when we visited Kiambaa Rural Dairy Cooperative and met two happy couples that are living “dairy ever after” in rural Kenya, Mr and Mrs Nyaka and Mr and Mrs Njeka.

The two couples shared their life stories and how dairy farming through the network of a Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) is impacting positively on their families and communities. I was astonished by how these humble and hardworking farmers have an intrinsic understanding of the markets.

CTA is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.